Water Buffalo Genomic Diversity

Since the advent of molecular genetics, the analysis of polymorphic loci has been used to study diversity between and within species at all levels of biological complexity, including domestic animals. Following technological improvements, different types of molecular markers have been used to characterize population variability, including allozymes, restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), microsatellite loci, and single nucleotide polymorphisms. Recently, high-throughput sequencing technologies have made it possible to study molecular diversity at the whole genome level. This chapter summarizes the main aspects of genomic diversity of water buffalo, as revealed by the analysis of different types of molecular markers and with respect to evolutionary history of the two subspecies.